Finally got the last two Christmas Cards in the mail today. Better late than never, right? For anyone we missed, our annual Christmas Letter:
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Merry Christmas from the Kruger family!
So, I
believe that the traditional method of writing a Christmas letter is to first
review last year’s letter to see how much has changed over the year. I haven’t bothered to look up last year’s
letter, but I can tell you that 2012 could have been summed up as “We had a
baby, she cries a lot, I think she hates us.”
Fortunately, sometime in mid-December of last year we discovered the
miracle that is baby-Zantac and over night Cecily changed from a super-cranky
baby who cries all the time to a fairly-cranky baby who cries 80% of the
time. When I write it out like this, it doesn't sound too impressive, but it was a major break-through in this house. Since then, Cecily has slowly, but steadily,
evolved into a happy little girl. She
continues to be the polar opposite of her big brother; in all the ways that
Parker is cuddly and easy-going, Cecily is feisty & independent. When she is happy, her face nearly breaks in
two with her smile; when she is not happy, you can hear her screaming across
town, and she’s been known to switch between the two with lightening speed. Cecily started walking in October and she has
not looked back; once she figured out the basic mechanics of it, she was
determined to walk, no manner how many face-plants that required. This girl is a teeny-tiny firecracker and I
am equal parts excited and terrified to see how she turns out as a bigger kid.
Parker
turned three this August, he continues to be a fairly easy-going little guy,
although he seems to have embraced the “tantruming-threes” with both arms. We had a rough month or two this summer where
Parker gave up binky and taking naps in the same day, replacing both with
screaming & tears. But he seems to have calmed down a little now and most
of the time he’s pretty happy (as long as you’re okay with him wearing his
jammies 24/7, which it turns out, I am).
Parker loves being a big brother, he loves helping take care of Cecily
and kissing her boo-boos when she falls down (often because he pushed her, but
she knocks herself over frequently enough as well). His most frustrating moments are when
little-miss-independent refuses to play with him, so I’m working on teaching
him the fine art of playing hard-to-get.
Because of our schedule this year, we haven’t signed Parker up for
PreSchool this year, but he is extremely eager for school, so we might start
him up in January…if his Mama ever gets around to looking into it. For now, he loves playing with his friends at
MOPS and church several days a week. He has turned into a little chatter-box,
it can take him a few minutes to warm up to a new situation, but after that he
is non-stop jabber-jabber.
Keith
continues to work at the same engineering firm downtown. His job has been evolving away from actual engineering
to more management, and he’s learning to appreciate the change. Keith’s company
has weathered the rough economy over the past few years well and they continue
to be busy with more work on the horizon.
Fortunately, Keith has found a pretty good balance of working the long
hours while still being home for dinner and playtime with the kids most nights,
for which I am extremely thankful. Parker has become obsessed with all things
construction, so Keith has taken him to a few of his construction sites, which
is pretty fun for both of them. Keith
continues to ride his bike, but in the few years we’ve been living in
Shoreline, he’s become more of a fair-weather rider; once you stop riding in
the rain, it’s pretty hard to go back, and I’m okay with that. Parker &
Keith love their Saturday afternoon bike rides together, and now Cecily is
starting to get in on it as well.
I continue
to stay home with the kiddos. Some days
I love it, some days I question my sanity, and most days are some combination
of the two. The past two years have been
rough with a sick pregnancy and then a very colicky baby, but Cecily has
settled into a more manageable temper and I really enjoy being home with my two
little ones. This September, I took over
the Coordinator role for our MOPS group at church. I’ve enjoyed working with my team and it’s a
nice outlet for my control-freak nature, since the kids allow very little of
this at home. I haven’t had much time for crafting this year, it seems like one
or the other child is demanding my attention at all times. But, I got a serger for Christmas last year,
and 6 months later, I finally figured out how to make the blasted thing work,
so I have great hopes for more sewing projects…eventually (like after they go
off to college, maybe). Although, at the
moment I’d be happy for four straight hours of sleep. I do enjoy taking way too
many photos of our kids, and if by some miracle, you’re not already bored of
hearing our family updates this far in the letter, there’s always more on our
blog: www.MeanderingJulie.blogspot.com.
This
summer, we convinced our families to all head down to Sunriver , Oregon
In family
news, both sets of Grandparents have sold their respective houses this year and
moved to within miles of each other in Mill Creek. It has been SO great to have Keith’s folks
closer by to help watch the kids (they both love to visit Grandma). I expected
to be more emotional about my parents moving out of my childhood home, but it
turns out that the hassle of moving is enough to kill any sentimentality I
might have had for the house (and I only helped a few days, I’m pretty sure my
Dad will be happy to never see the place again!).
We hope
that this letter finds you well with prayers for a Merry Christmas and a
Peaceful New Year!
With love
from the Krugers:
Keith,
Julie, Parker, & Cecily
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